Don't let me Fall, Bro
by Cass Clay
Summary: Steampunk AU. Geez, Al. Stop leaving Mattilda to do your work for you! First the Pilot job, and now the WAR! You need to look out for yourself more. Fem!Canada human names used.
1. Chapter 1

"_Daddy, I'm scared." Mattilda Said as she sat next to her big brother Alfred _in_ the bucket seat of the cockpit. _

"_Now, now, Mattilda, you need to learn this. It will come in useful if you ever need to fly anywhere and your brother is somewhere else." Their father told them as he checked the dials of the small bush plain that sat patiently in the middle of the runway. He tapped the fuel gage a couple times, before turning to them. "Now, I already taught you how to steer with the pedals, but today is the day we take it up into the air!" Alfred stared at him with wide eyes._

"_Really Dad? We're taking it up? It's ready?" He said, referring to the engine they had to repair a long time ago, and had held together so stubbornly, even when they had to replace the parts. Mattilda had watched them work together, studying their movements and the parts they were playing with. They didn't know she was watching, but they were used to her always hovering like a spirit. _

"_Yes, my boy! It is ready at last." He opened the door and hopped out, running around to the front propeller, reaching up and violently pulling it down, causing the engine to roar to life, sputtering a few times. He removed the chalks from the wheels, and the plain started to move forward, causing Mattilda to gasp in fright and clutch to her Brothers arm. _

"_It's okay, Mattie." He smiled at her._

"_B-But, what if I fall out? I don't want to fall, Big Brother." She said, clutching his arm harder, and trembling as the plain started to turn. _

"_Don't worry. If you fall, I'll just catch you." He told her as their Father jumped back into the Plain. _

"_All ready to go, kids?" He called over the engine, and they nodded, fastening themselves into the seat. "Okay then, Here we go!" He grinned his grin as he pushed the steering wheel forward to gain speed before he pulled back, the rutter flipping up as they pulled off the ground, and they flew. They flew into the evening sky and didn't land until the moon was high in the air, after Alfred and Mattilda had steered on their own. Their Father talked them through the landing, and they laughed as they walked back into their small home, tired, and ready for sleep._

_Years had passed, and their Father grew ill. He died when Mattilda was 14, and Alfred 17. They stood by his grave side, Mattilda weeping, and Alfred wearing their fathers Bomber Jacket, holding her shoulder, stroking it with his thumb comfortingly. Mattilda tore her shoulder away from her brother, and ran, praying it would rain. Rain would wash away that feeling. As she ran, she felt her thin shoes be torn from her feet, but she kept running. She ran through the fields that surrounded their home, she ran to the ocean, which laid close to the town, and she watched as ships and planes travelled to the county across the straight. It felt as if her heart had been ripped out from her chest. _

_The next time Alfred saw her, she was asleep in the cock-pit of the plain. He placed the bomber jacket over her, and kissed her tear-stained cheek before going inside to heat up something to eat._

"_Alfred! Are you leaving?" Mattilda asked as she bounded down the steps of their house to see him standing at the door. _

"_Yes, Mattie. I am." He said, holding his rucksack over his shoulder. _

"_I don't see why you have to leave me here, Al. Why Can't I go with you to Port?" She asked him. If he left, it would be the first time being alone. _

"_I need this job, Mat. I really do. Once I have enough money, I'll come back for you. I promise." _

"_That doesn't mean that I can't go with you." _

"_You need to take care of the Plain. You love that thing more than I do." He said, throwing her a small smile. _

"_Just stay one more day, Al. Please?" She begged, "I'll make you your burgers! Just stay one more night!" _

_Al couldn't resist his sister when she was ..._there._ When she was with him, and speaking, he couldn't say no. _

_He ruffled her hair that was turning out to be so much like their fathers. "Okay. One more night." Mattilda's face lit up and she swung her arms around her older brothers' neck. _

"_Thanks Al." She muffled into his shirt and Bomber Jacket. _

_That night, She cooked for them, and at night, She snuck out to the Plain, and took out their feeble blow torch she had the crank herself so it would work. She filled the Plains hollow wings with cement, and filled the back with cement as well. She saudered the doors shut, and saudered the propeller so it wouldn't work again. She left the engine, though. She could never destroy the engine her Father and brother worked so diligently on. With the wheels greased, she rolled it out in front of their house, before sealing them in cement like she sealed the rest. It was dawn when she finished, as she stood back and examined her handy-work; she heard the door open and close. Mattilda turned to see her brother attempt to sneak out the door before she woke up._

"_Good Morning, Al." She said vacantly. Al walked up next to her, his mouth hanging open in disbelief._

"_What did you do to the Plain?" He demanded. _

_She smiled. "Its fine, Al. It can stay here forever, and I can come with you!"_

_He stared at her. "Are you insane?" _

"_No... No I don't think so." She said dreamily. "I left the engine intact, though. I thought we could leave some stuff with it. Like Dads metal and flying goggles and his leather flying cap." _

_Alfred sighed. If they did that, there was really no going back. "Okay then. I'll grab them, and we'll seal it up." He walked into the house and retrieved the items, and grabbed his Mother's Locket before leaving. He threw it into a wooden box, and carried it outside to where a sleeping Mattilda lay slumped on the ground. He placed the box and saudered the engine shut, before he picked her up and laid her down on the couch inside before digging her out some clothes for the journey ahead. _

Mattilda woke up, confused. She had had 3 dreams, and all of them were memories. It could only mean something, though what, she couldn't tell. She walked down, ready to Co-pilot for her brother in the AeroFerry. She pulled on her canvas pants and button down shirt before putting on her glasses and pulling her blond hair back to run it through a brush a couple times. She walked into the main room and the small flat, and stopped dead. Alfred stood with two men, one their boss (Alfred's actually. He didn't know Mattilda accompanied him), and the other a Very official looking man who stood tall, medals adorning his chest, and a scarf wrapped around his neck.

"Al...?" She cautioned. Alfred looked pained. He was white, and a serious expression stained his face.

"Mattilda... They want me to join the air force." He told her. Mattilda paled.

"What?" She asked in disbelief. The tall man turned to her.

"Oh! You must be Alfred's sister!" He smiled, "Do not worry; you can take over for his job. I do believe you can fly just as well as he can, Da?" Mattilda narrowed her eyes. How could he know? "Da, so, I will take your brother, and you can have him back when I am done, hm?" He continued to smile as Mattilda shuddered. Something about him made him seem cold and ruthless... Perfect for the Army.

"O...kay." She said, unnable to say anything else. She turned to Alfred who was still standing in the exact same place as before. She hugged him and startled him out of his thoughts.

"Be careful Big Brother... Make sure you come back, okay? Promise?" She said into his Chest. He smiled, and pulled her in more.

"I promise. I always keep my promises, don't I?" He asked, resting his head on hers. Mattilda could feel her eyes start to water, and she tried her hardest to hold back her tears. The scarfed man placed a gloved hand on Alfreds shoulder.

"Time to go Private Jones, Da?" He smiled.

Alfred released his sniffling little sister before turning to him, throwing his hand up in a salute. "Yes, General Braginsky." He looked at Mattilda one last time, and threw her one last grin before walking out the door, possibly for the last time.

"Ah... yes, I expect you to see you at work tommorrow then?" Their boss, Mr Clayton said awkwardly before leaving.

As soon as he left, Mattilda collapsed, crying and burying her face in her hands. She wish she could run like she did two years ago. Instead, she rose to her feet, and ran to the docks were the plain Alfred was in was preparing to take off. She reached it as it was moving and a worker was moving to close the steel door.

"I love you Alfred!" She called. "I love you Big Brother! Win for us!"

AN: Holy cow Flashbacks! O.o

So much emotion in this! So many memories! D: Be strong Mattie!

And... I think Mattie might be the only genderbended person. I might change my Mind, but, you know... Don't expect anything. Also, don't expect the next chapter to be this long.


	2. Chapter 2

Mattilda walked out onto the dock where her Aeroferry sat patiently in the water. She picked up the broom and wacked the wings, sending the seagulls flying away, calling at her in distaste. She opened the doors to the cockpit, and looked at her empty co-pilot seat. It made her wonder if anyone would walk up to the front of the plain and sit in the front with her?

She checked the dials, and flicked a couple switches before stepping back into the cabin to make sure the buckes were working. As she stepped out, she saw, in the very first row, A man sleeping was in the front row of the seats, slumped over with his face shaded by a fishermans cap. His mouth was relaxed in a slight smile, And Mattilda wondered how anyone can really smile like that in their sleep in times of war. She moved to shake him awake, but she noticed that he held a ticket in his crossed arms. Frowning, Mattilda took the ticket, but didn't rouse him. If he was supposed to be on that flight, she didn't see the point of walking the dock twice.

Mattilda laid out ragged beaten up carpet on the dock that was slippery with morning dew. She looked out at the water, and noticed that it was misty, almost fog, but she knew that when she rose above, it would be smooth sailing. Unless she got caught in an air battle that she heard about, but she shook that thought out of her head. She would need all the positivity in the world to face her passengers today.

People had been filing out of the country when the war with Sanrica started. They wanted to go south to Taranthia, where they were neutral. If they could go south enough, they would escape the Peninsula Mentality.

Normally, it was city people who wanted to escape, in fear of being bombed. But today, they were farmers mostly. Recently, spies had snuck in and burned fields close to the farms that the Military had taken over for barracks, and strategizing.

Mattilda Honestly couldn't remember seeing any faces that had more hopeless expressions.

"How horrible..." she said to herself as they filed past her, Families looking for a place to stay until the war was over, "... to be forced out of your own home."

She closed the gate behind them and started walking towards the Aeroferry, before something grabbed her attention.

"Hey, Wait! Don't leave yet!" A man in a trench-coat exclaimed as she ran towards the gate. Mattilda smiled, and opened the gate again for him.

"Thanks..." He panted, pausing, and leaning over his knees to catch his breath. He slowly looked up at her, and furrowed his thick dark eyebrows in a scowl. "Yes, well... let's not keep the others waiting, shall we?" He grumbled before striding forward in front of her.

Mattilda watched as he stormed off, and wondered what his problem was. She followed him down the dock, and opened the door to the cabin for the passengers before getting in herself. She walked p to the front of the cabin and turned around as everyone else go in and took a seaton either side of the aisle. She glanced to her left and saw the man still asleep there.

"Hello everyone!" She called softly to get their attention. "I'm your captain today, and I wanted to remind you that we might fly into a hot-spot while I am transporting you, so, I'd like to direct your attention to the shoulder straps. They pull over both shoulders, so they should form an "x" across your front." She told everyone before she walked into the cabin and turned the safety off, then moving outside to pull on the propeller.

She walked along the pontoon and untied the ropes fastening them to the docks before pushing off, and pulling on the propeller, causing the engine to start. She jumped back into the cockpit and started to steer them out of the bay where the port was situated along.

Mattilda increased the speed, causing the wake behind them disappear as she pulled up on the steering wheel, and they achieved lift-off. The familiar feeling of her stomach churning in the most wonderful way returned to her as she took them higher, then equalled out.

As she looked out of the window, she saw below her a world that seemed so pretty and lifeless at that altitude, like it was her own little doll city.

Taking on a more serious tone, Mattilda looked to her compass and directions. It was a pretty normal flight, just one hundred seventy five miles to the Peninsula. It seemed easy enough. It would take her about an hour and forty minutes until she would get there. She knew that she would have just enough fuel to get there and back, as long as she didn't waste any.

The day was calm, the air was still, and there was little disturbance in the flight path. Mattilda could hear the gentle chatter from the passengers. Mattilda couldn't believe how smooth this flight was going. All she had to do was keep her hands on the wheel, and not let the plane turn anywhere. With the hum of the engine, and the cushioned seat she was in, she felt like she keep going on forever.

Suddenly, her right wing tip was nudged down. She checked the dials, and everything seemed fine, so she looked out to her right out the window. The people went silent, and a child started to cry. She couldn't blame them, though. She assumed the same. A Sancrica bush plane was flying beside her.

_How on earth did I miss that? _She thought to herself. She looked to her left, and there was another.

_Trapped._

"Strap yourself in!" She called to her passengers, as she herself strapped herself in. She looked to her right again, and saw a boy younger than she, piloting the plane.

He had blond hair, shoulder length with short choppy bangs, lighter than hers and a piercing frown. To her left, A girl even younger than him, who looked similar, except with a ribbon in her hair, and a softer gaze.

The girl in to Mattilda's left had written a number on a piece of paper, and was holding it up to the window. Mattilda stared at it for a second before she realized that it was a radio frequency.

Mattilda scrambled to turn on her radio and tune it to that frequency. _So the enemy wants to make contact, eh?_

"Red 1 to Aeroferry, we request to escort you to our base, over." The voice through the radio crackled through.

"Negative." Mattilda replied. "I need to take this load to the peninsula, over."

"Red 1 to Aeroferry, if you do not come with us, we will be forced to take you with us whether you want to or not, over." The plain on the left bumped the Aeroferry's wing with its own for effect.

Mattilda gritted her teeth in frustration. What was she supposed to do? She was so deep in thought, she almost didn't hear the _whirrrr, click _of a pistol being loaded and set.

Almost.

**Bang. **

A/N: Cliff hanger! :O

Yeah... I think that that is a good place to leave off.

Not as long as the last chapter, but you get a good idea, I think.


	3. Chapter 3

**Bang.**

The air from the bullet hole in the ceiling whistled through into the cabin as everyone screamed.

"Alright, I'm taking over." The man with huge eyebrows who called for the gate earlier had his arm extended at Mattilda with a gun resting on the end. He marched forward with purpose.

Mattildas mind was racing. If she lets go of the wheel, they would plummet to their death. If she didn't, she would get killed, but everyone else would still plummet to their death, unless the man with the gun took hold of the wheel and steered them to wherever.

Mattilda knew there would be enough fuel. They would be fine. She could not let these people die.

Bye Al. Sorry I couldn't see you one last time.

See you soon Dad.

Mattilda squeezed her eyes shut and tensed up, sweat pouring down her face, and her heart pounding in her ears.

But the fatal blow never came. Instead, she heard the clatter of a gun being dropped followed by a long string of swears coming from the man.

"Let me fucking go! You bloody Bastard, you let me go!" He yelled. "I have to kill her! She looks so much like him, I need to kill her!"

"Ah, I am afraid I cannot let you do that, my friend." A smooth voice replied. Mattilda looked back into the cabin.

The man who was sleeping before had Eyebrows arms pinned behind his own back in one of his arms, and the sleeping man was holding Eyebrows back with his other arm.

The man who was sleeping held the other struggling man tight and looked over to Mattilda and threw her a charming (partly lewd) smile.

"Get us out of here, won't you love?" He winked, causing a red flush come over Mattildas face.

He threw the yelling, cursing man into his previous seat, strapping him in and busting the release with his own pistol in one fluid motion. As the angry man tried to make a grab at him, the Man with the stubbled chin and charming smile cocked the pistol and pointed at him.

"I wouldn't do that If I were you, cutie." He said, smiling deviously, and charming in his smile was gone.

He hopped into the co-pilot seat next to Mattie and strapped in.

"Let's go." She said, accelerating forward, startling the plains on either side of the Aeroferry, and causing them to jerk forward to attempt to keep up.

"These fools obviously just had training on how to control their plains, but unlike me," Mattie said, her adrenaline pumping, "I grew up flying them!"

She cut the engine, letting the plain drop; nose first, rising a cry from the passengers.

"Hold on!" She yelled, clearly enjoying this.

She started the engine again with a key, and pulled up before they hit the ocean below. She changed course so that they would go back to the direction of the Peninsula. The plains above had finally spotted her, and they dove to catch up. Mattie waited before they dropped to her level before she pulled up and flipped behind them, making several passengers sick.

The enemy was on par with her, speeding up. Mattilda slowed a bit, to let them catch up, peering up at the sky to see if there was what she thought there would be, and she found what she was looking for. Mattie pulled up, sending them straight up like a rocket (even if they hadn't been invented yet). She straitened the plane out as soon as they reached the low flying cloud from that morning's fog. She held her breath as he listened to the forgotten radio.

"Red 1 to Red 2, can you see her? Over." The voice crackled over the radio.

"This is Red 2," a young feminine voice said, "I didn't see, no. Over"

The male voice sighed. "Should we give up? I don't want to go into those white-out conditions. Over."

"We should leave it for today. Over."

"I mean, It's not like I CAN'T, I just don't want to. It will cost too much money on fuel anyways!"

Silence.

"...Over."

"Okay, then brother. Let's go home, over."

Mattie listened for their engines, and she decided that they had gone far enough to get out before she hit a duck or something. She dropped out of the cloud and carried on their path to the Peninsula.

"That was fantastique!" The man next to her exclaimed.

"It was an adrenaline rush for sure..." She panted out quietly, "Can you fly a plane?" She asked the man next to her.

"CAN I fly? Ma petit Chou, I fly them for a career." He laughed, squeezing his dark blue eyes shut in merriment.

"Good. Do you mind taking control for a minute?" She asked, wanting to go into the cabin to check on people.

"Of course, Cheri." He said, moving to take the wheel when she moved to the back.

"Thank you." Mattilda got up and moved to the back as he scooted into her seat. She walked out into the space between the cabin and cockpit.

She stared out at the terrified crowd, and studied their faces for a minute before speaking.

"Sorry about that." She told them apologetically. They stared at her for a minute before going on to their usual business. Mattie shrugged and walked the cabin, asking if everyone was okay, when her foot bumped into something. She looked down to see the discarded gun that had been discarded on the ground before by Eyebrows.

She picked it up, and shoved it into her belt before turning towards Eyebrows.

"Why do you want to kill me so bad?" She asked him.

"Because. You look too much like him." He spat, and glared at her.

"Well, I'm not, eh. I'm Mattilda Williams." She said.

"Williams? Perhaps I was wrong, then..." He replied, staring at the floor. Puzzled, she turned to go to the fuselage.

"Wait! I'm... I'm Arthur Kirkland." He said as she was walking away. Mattie stopped for a moment, before turning back to shoot him a weary smile and plopping into the seat next to the substitute pilot.

"Comment ca va, Cheri?" He asked as she sat and sighed.

"Mal." She replied.

"Ah, mais pourquois?"

"Because I faced certain death twice in one day..." She said, pulling her legs up to her chest.

"That never stopped your brother." He offered.

"You knew Al?" She asked, surprised. Mattie wondered if they served in the airforce together.

"Mais oui. I commanded his squadron. We served together proudly, and even though he was rather loud for the army... But he was a superb pilot, almost as good as you. I owe my life to him, but I cannot repay him now..." He said sadly.

"Why not?" Mattie asked.

"Well, because Mattilda. He was shot down. Your brother is dead."

A/N OH HO HO. WHAT A TWIST. So how many of you hate me now? :D


End file.
